Covid 19: Passengers on first quarantine-free flight from New Zealand to Niue test positive

Niue is the latest Pacific country to open its borders to the world again. Photo / Getty Images

A group of passengers who travelled to Niue from New Zealand on the first quarantine-free flight since the Covid-19 pandemic broke have tested positive for the virus.

The Office of the Secretary of Government in Niue confirmed last night that five passengers who touched down on the island earlier this week have since returned positive Covid results.

The first quarantine-free flight from New Zealand was on Monday, local time (Tuesday, NZT).

Niue's Minister of Social Services, Sauni Tongatule, said all 118 passengers who were on that flight complied with the necessary entry requirements set out under Niuean law.

"The positive cases and their close contacts are currently in isolation and will be monitored closely by Niue's health officials," he said in a press statement.

The Hanan International Airport in Niue. File Photo / Brett Phibbs

Contact-tracing has already begun and will continue until all close contacts are identified.

Tongatule said all other passengers on board have returned negative Covid results so far; but that they would also be monitored closely and would be retested on Day 3 as per local testing protocols.

"We have expected this virus, we have prepared for it and we are ready to contain its spread," he said.

"We have caught these cases throughout our Day 1 testing and now I ask the people of Niue to remain vigilant."

The island nation only recorded its first case of Covid in early March after a person who arrived on a flight from New Zealand tested positive while in managed isolation and quarantine.

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Positive cases have been picked up early at the border and the country has not seen the community transmission other nations, including fellow Pacific countries, have experienced over the last two years of the global pandemic.

Niue also boasts a high vaccination rate - a fact Tongatule acknowledged was a key factor in the fight against the virus.

Pacific region slowly opening up to the world again

Members of the public are now being urged to continue to practice good hygiene and to keep up with contact-tracing procedures so that people can be easily notified should they be identified as a close contact.

"As we all know, the best defence against this virus is to work together and use all the health and safety precautions that we know make a real difference in protecting us all from Covid-19," Tongatule said.

Niue joins the growing number of countries in the Pasefika region to open its borders again to the travelling public.

Countries including Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Tonga and the Solomon Islands have all announced an opening of their borders over the next few weeks or months; with Vanuatu and the Solomons opening up today.